This work explores the evolutionary dynamic exhibited by the trajectory of unfair dismissal law in Britain and Australia. A different comparative evolutionary dynamic is observed in the phase leading up to the enactment of a statutory unfair dismissal scheme and in the period subsequent to enactment. It is argued that the shared common law origin of the legal systems of Britain and Australia masks significant divergence in their respective labour law traditions. Whilst collective laissez-faire in Britain, and conciliation and arbitration in Australia both sought to secure industrial peace, these divergent traditions operated in a manner particular to their jurisdiction in constraining the evolution of a statutory unfair dismissal law. It was only when these traditions underwent severe economic, social and political challenges that they faced a crisis of legitimacy and new ideas for labour law were canvassed. Although occurring over twenty years apart, the breakdown of Britain’s and Australia’s labour law traditions saw the juridification of domestic labour law, with a central reform being the inception of a statutory right protecting against unfair dismissal. Despite emerging from divergent legal traditions and according to different timeframes, the trajectory of unfair dismissal law subsequent to its enactment was to converge upon a common theme of peeling back the statutory superstructure in favour of localised and alternative dispute resolution. Although these developments are diachronistic across the two jurisdictions, this evolutionary dynamic of divergence giving way to convergence is revealing of a high degree of path dependency as between the unfair dismissal laws of Britain and Australia.

M.Com. (Business Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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At the heart of debates about the effects of globalization and the service economy on the welfare state is the notion of employment insecurity. It is considered a key causal mechanism through which cross-border movements of capital, goods and services (globalization) and employment shifts from manufacturing to services (deindustrialization) affect social policy. However, empirical research on such a causal linkage has been markedly lacking. In many cases, employment insecurity has been simply assumed to be the causal mechanism at work behind the observed relationship between economic globalization or deindustrialization and governments' commitment to social protection. This dissertation brings the hidden causal mechanism to the fore by using employment protection both as an explanatory and a dependent variable. Employment protection, which refers to regulatory frameworks that govern hiring and firing, has a direct bearing on workers' job security and can capture the politics of labor market risks. This dissertation consists of two projects. First, it examines how globalization and the service economy affect employment protection. Second, it analyzes how employment protection influences institutions of social protection. Focusing on the preferences and political strength of skilled workers, I argue that the effects of international trade and the service economy on employment protection depend on the relative scarcity of skilled labor and on the patterns of employment shifts between industries. I also contend that whether employment insecurity leads to expanded social protection depends on the social policy preference of skilled workers, which in turn, is shaped by the skill distribution in the economy and by pre-existing social protection institutions. This study finds that employment protection is both a political response to external and internal economic changes and a driving force for social policy change. Moreover, it highlights different causal processes for developed and developing economies. It offers statistical evidence based on two extensive cross-national time-series datasets of employment protection in the OECD and Latin America, and uses a case study of South Korea as qualitative evidence to elucidate the underlying dynamics of its quantitative findings.

The study examined factors affecting return to work following a short-term disability and measured the relationship between social support and the subject's well-being status, emphasizing the role of the social support system. Subjects are 185 female city workers, members of District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO, and recently either physically or mentally disabled. They are entitled to a maximum of six-months short-term disability benefits. Data, collected through a structured telephone interview, included the Arizona Social Support Interview Schedule (ASSIS), modified to the type of event (short-term disability), population (female), to measure perceived social support, and the General Well-Being Schedule to measure subjects' well-being. Univariate and multivariate statistical techniques were utilized. Six variables predicted length of unemployment: (1) severity of illness; (2) general well-being; (3) type of disability (physical or mental); (4) quality of support from immediate family; (5) job tenure; and (6) perceived financial stress. None of the work social support variables were statistically significant in predicting length of unemployment. A relationship between social support and well-being was found. Four variables predicted the subject's well-being status: (1) perceived financial stress; (2) job satisfaction; (3) quality of support from family; and (4) quality of support from friends. Mentally disabled subjects remained longer on short-term disability than the physically disabled and a higher percentage were unemployed at the end of the six-month short-term disability, implying that they are at a greater risk of leaving the labor force. Findings are consistent with existing research on the role of social support in promoting well-being and return to work, as well as identification of critical risk factors for leaving the labor force. These have critical implications for social work practice and policy, in general, and in union settings.

Wong, Lun Man. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 72-73). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Chinese Abstract --- p.ii / Acknowledgements --- p.iii / Contents --- p.iv / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- A Model of Immigration with Heterogeneous Labor Input --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- The model --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2 --- Equilibrium balanced growth path --- p.9 / Chapter 2.3 --- Steady-state equilibrium and average household (m) --- p.11 / Chapter 2.4 --- Movements in the distribution of wealth (m) --- p.13 / Chapter 2.5 --- Transitional dynamics (m) --- p.14 / Chapter 3 --- Normalized CES Production Function --- p.17 / Chapter 3.1 --- Normalization of CES Production Function (benchmark) --- p.17 / Chapter 3.2 --- Steady-state equilibrium and average household (σ) --- p.25 / Chapter 3.3 --- Movements in the distribution of wealth (σ) --- p.27 / Chapter 3.4 --- Transitional dynamics (σ) --- p.28 / Chapter 4 --- Production Function with Capital-Skill Substitution --- p.31 / Chapter 4.1 --- Normalization of new CES production function --- p.31 / Chapter 4.2 --- Steady-state equilibrium and average household (σ) --- p.37 / Chapter 4.3 --- Movements in the distribution of wealth (σ) --- p.38 / Chapter 4.4 --- Comparison of the efficiency and distribution effect of σ and σ --- p.40 / Chapter 4.5 --- Transitional Dynamics (σ) --- p.41 / Chapter 4.6 --- Comparison of calibration results using different production functions --- p.42 / Chapter 5 --- Conclusion --- p.44 / Appendix --- p.46 / Figures --- p.50 / benchmark production function --- p.50 / new production function --- p.61 / References --- p.72

No description available.

This dissertation describes and interprets the effects of the significant changes to the workers compensation, industrial and related laws that occurred in the early 1990s in Western Australia. These could be characterised as motivated by a desire by the then Coalition Government to reduce access to legal representation in compensation claims, limit the potential of workers to claim damages for negligence and reduce the use of collective bargaining mechanisms to resolve industrial disputes. Arguably, the common philosophical themes were to individualise the relationship between employer and employee and to reduce the bargaining strength of workers. In general terms, these themes were presented under the guise of flexible workplace relations. Whether these outcomes were achieved is not the subject of this analysis, rather, the aim is to show that one (perhaps unintended) consequence of the legislative changes of the early 1990s was to create significant areas of overlap in various employment related laws. These areas of overlap have led to some difficulties within the various tribunals involved in the resolution of employment related disputes. Over the last decade, the issues arising from the 1990s amendments have crystallized into important principles, which are discussed in this work. The thesis of this dissertation is that an examination of the development of the industrial and workers compensation laws in Western Australia in the 1990s establishes sufficient commonality between the industrial relations and compensation systems to warrant the rationalisation of these two jurisdictions.

Abstract not available

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Industrial Relations and Human Resources." Includes bibliographical references (p. 226-235).